Police: Video Shows Bronx Stabbing, Slashing Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police released surveillance video Monday of two suspects who they said are wanted in a stabbing and slashing attack over the weekend.
The video shows a black car pull up to a group on Holland Avenue in the Bronx around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Two men jump out and approach a 26-year-old woman on the sidewalk, police said. That's when one of the suspect stabbed the woman in the stomach while the other slashed her right ear, police said.
"She didn't even know what was happening," the victim's friend said.
Witness Kendra Prince, one of the women seen in the surveillance video, managed to run to safety.
"The car circled around the block twice, they jumped out. We didn't know who they was or what they wanted. And that's when we see the guy with the knife," Prince said. "We just see a big knife coming at us, we took off."
The victim also suffered a broken foot after tripping as she tried to run away, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported. Her friends said she works in retail, but is now home recovering from her injuries.
The two suspects fled in the car, heading east on Burke Avenue. Police said the men did not know the victim, and investigators are looking into whether it was a case of mistaken identity, Burrell reported.
Police have released a photo of the suspects' car.
The first suspect is described by police as a black or Hispanic man, about 6'1" tall and weighing 160 pounds. He was seen wearing a green hooded sweater, a gray winter cap, red shorts and black sneakers.
The second suspect is described as a black or Hispanic man, between 5'10" and 5'11" tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black jacket and gray pants.
Saturday's attack was one of several over the weekend.
An NYPD officer was slashed breaking up a fight in Brooklyn, police said.
In another incident, a 25-year-old man was stabbed outside his home in the Butler Houses in the Bronx around 5 a.m. Saturday.
Police said the suspect demanded his sneakers and then stabbed the victim in the left arm, the abdomen and the right thigh. He is in critical condition at Bronx Lebanon Hospital.
Around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, police got a report of another attack on East 173rd Street in the Crotona Park section of the Bronx.
In that case, investigators said a 32-year-old man was slashed on the face. The suspect ran away after the attack, police said.
There was also another slashing in Brooklyn Sunday that left a 59-year-old woman in critical condition.
Investigators have also released video of a suspect wanted for slashing a man in a food cart line on Jerome Avenue on Valentine's Day.
Since the beginning of the year, the NYPD said there has been more than 530 slashings or stabbings across the city compared to just over 440 during the same period last year. That's a 20 percent increase.
Community activist Tony Herbert said the violence needs to stop.
"I want to say this to every young black and Hispanic male and female in our community – we are killing ourselves. We're creating a modern-day genocide that truly is wiping out a generation that is going to take away from our community being able to move forward," Herbert said. "We can't keep doing this."
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.